SoulTale
by LeafeonLover
Summary: Seven humans fell into the underground, each died, but only six became Lost Souls. Told stories of Mt. Ebott when Frisk was a child she climbs the mountain hoping to unravel its mysteries. She becomes the eighth human to fall into a world of monsters. But the only one who can hear and see Lost Souls, with a spirit inside her that wants those souls and their power. OlderFrisk x Sans
1. Prologue: The Last

Hi there reader LeafeonLover here!

sorry for the long authors note but it's the first chapter

So this is a new story of mine about Undertale obviously

I have recently found myself becoming a huge fan of undertale

There are so many wondeful stories, comics and animations out there

And the fandom has a lot of love for this brilliant game

I wanted to contribute to this fan community

and if I could I would draw an awesome AU comic

but unfortunately my drawing skills are barely on par

so here I am writing a story, something that I can actually do well!

Anyway so some info about this story

It features an older Female Frisk

And the pairing will eventually be Frisk x Sans

This story is kind of a novelization of Undertale with my own twists thrown in there

I suppose you could say its AU with a different kind of Frisk

In this story Frisk is more in touch with the her soul and the lost souls of the other fallen humans

Time also automatically resets whenever Frisk is killed

And Frisk does not have conscious memories of previous timelines only vague feelings

Chara is also more outspoken and a bit unhinged but that won't be gotten into until much later (Chara is also female as well)

there will also be some OCs (later in the story they'll show up too)

particularly in this first chapter as it's the prologue about the day frisk fell into the underground

We won't be seeing any familiar characters (apart from frisk) until next chapter

Lastly the disclaimer which I won't be repeating again

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN UNDERTALE!**

Undertale belongs to Toby Fox and I would encourage you to buy the game and play it yourself because it's pretty good

some notes on speech too

 _italics_ are specific thoughts, or past speech

 _ **bold and italics**_ is chara speaking

now without further ado

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

Prologue: The Last

"Frisk! Get up already."

I bolted upright in my bed gasping to fill my lungs with air and sweating profusely. I tried to move from the bed but my limbs were tangled in the sheets.

"Come on Frisk, if you want breakfast then you'd better get moving." The girl –Elena- who had woken me sighed walking out of the room.

I struggled more furiously only succeeding in falling out of the bed and onto the floor. I emerged from the pile of covers a moment later standing to my feet. I glared at the sheets that had trapped me with hate.

"You win this round." I muttered grabbing them and throwing them over the bed messily.

I knew the mistress of the household hated messy bedrooms. Which was why despite sharing this room with three other girls relatively the same age as me it was spotlessly clean. I hurried over to the large wooden dresser set between my bed and Elena's. My clothes were in the left set of draws.

Pulling my pyjama top off over my head I speedily dressed in the school uniform. I lived in an orphanage with many other girls and boys who were parentless like me. It wasn't so bad. I had a warm bed to sleep in, clothes, food and lots of other kids around not that I played with many of them.

I sometimes played with the younger orphans finding them much more friendly than most of the kids my own age. There weren't many girls or boys in the orphanage who were in their older teenage years. They all thought I was weird to begin with anyway.

I looked in the small bedroom mirror attempting to quickly tidy myself up. I patted down my nearly shoulder length chocolate brown hair and took a moment to look at myself. I had a lightly tanned complexion, brown eyes that were hidden beneath the fringe of my hair and thick eyelashes.

With a young face and short stature I was often mistaken for being years younger than I actually was. Playing around with children when I was considered too old for games probably didn't help that misconception either, but I didn't care. They were a lot more fun to play with than the kids my age.

Besides someone had to watch out for the little ones. It can be really hard to get used to this place if you come in at a young age. I should know. I came to the orphanage when I was five-years-old and was often picked on by older children.

I didn't want anyone else to feel the way I did back then so I always tried to reach out to any new kids. Because of this I was well loved by the younger children. I nodded at my reflection in the mirror now dressed a white dress top with dark blue skirt , red tie, brown dress shoes and white shin high socks.

This was the uniform of the local school that mostly everyone at the orphanage went to. I turned away from the mirror to tie up my shoe laces but caught a flash of red in the corner of my eye. My head instinctively whipped around my shoulders tensing but I saw nothing.

Shrugging my shoulders to get rid of the strange anxious feeling I finished tying my shoes. I hurriedly left the run thumping down the curving staircase and hoping into the dining room. As one would expect the dining room was absolute havoc. There were kids everywhere pouring cereal into their bowls, spreading things on toast and stealing food from each other.

"Frisk, Frisk! I saved a seat for you!" I heard a high voice calling.

I turned my head smiling as I saw a group of kids I was friends with. The one calling me was called Lisa and we knew each other pretty well. She was short with tan skin and long curly brown hair and eyes. She was very cute.

I could tell that when she was my age she'd be one of those girls that turned the heads of guys. But for now she was just a cute kid. I was a bit older than Lisa, she was only ten-years-old but she'd been here a few years now. When she first arrived she kept to herself and didn't talk a lot with the other kids.

I tried talking with her but she stayed secluded it was only from continual interactions she eventually got to trust me. She was a lot more open now than she used to be. She had made many friends with other kids at the orphanage and in her class. I knew quite a few of them and we talked often.

I went over to the little girl pulling out the chair next to her and sitting down as I grabbed a plate with some toast. I was just in time too because nearly all the food was gone.

"Good morning everyone." I greeted quietly with a smile.

I got a chorus of "Good morning Frisk!" in reply from the kids who sat around the long table.

I sliced a banana onto the toast and poured a bit of honey on top before biting into it. I made chit chat with the kids at the table as they slurped down cereal for breakfast. Apparently they were very excited about a field trip their class was having today to the foot of Mount Ebott.

It was the last day of the semester before the holidays so there wasn't much more to learn in class. I found myself jealous of the young kids wishing I could go on the field trip. It'd be better than whatever we were learning in my high school classes.

The forest around mount Ebott was so peaceful and had many different forms of wildlife. It was a good place to go for thinking because barely anyone went there. Nowadays not many people seemed to appreciate the beauty of nature, besides there were also those rumours.

"Frisk can you tell us that story about the mountain you know?" Lisa pleaded tugging on the sleeve of my school uniform.

I smirked into my toast taking another bite of the crispy bread and chewing it. I knew that question would come eventually.

"Yeah I want to tell it to the other kids in class today!" a boy with black hair –who was called Max- added enthusiastically.

I chewed my toast pretending to think about it as the two other kids there also begged for the story. I swallowed the rest of my toast in seconds and grinned at them.

"Alright I'll tell you, but we've gotta get going soon." I agreed glancing at the clock on the wall.

The four kids at my end of the table nodded gleefully asking me to hurry and tell them. I wasn't sure why they liked this story so much. I'd told it to them about a million times.

Pretty much anytime anyone mentioned the mountain, as a bedtime story or when one of them had a nightmare. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, after all I loved the story when I was there age too.

"Alright, alright!" I laughed lightly at the kids enthusiasm pouring some orange juice and sipping it.

The kids watched me with an excited expression. I took in a deep breath trying to remember every detail of the folklore of my childhood. For a second I closed my eyes getting flashes of a gorgeous woman welling up from the back of my head. I pushed the memories away as I felt a tweak in my chest.

"Long ago, two races lived on Earth: Humans and Monsters. One day a war broke between the two races. After a long battle the Humans were victorious." A quiet cheer left Max's lips as the other three kids snickered at his addition of sound effects.

I smiled softly at the kids glad the story made someone happy.

"They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell." I continued softly.

I silently wondered if there was any truth behind the tale. Did the Monsters remain trapped under the mountain to this day? Waiting for an opportunity to escape and extract revenge on the beings that trapped them there. I laughed to myself, no of course not.

There was no such thing as monsters. Even though I told myself this a sliver of doubt wriggled in my heart as if it knew that was untrue.

In a neutral tone I spoke "Legend says that those who climb the mountain never return."

"Yeah because the monsters in the mountain kidnap humans, bake them into pies and eat them!" Max exclaimed.

All stared at him funny before the kids burst into laughter. Children had the strangest theories. A clapping noise from the doorway of the hall drew my attention.

"Children come on, time for school!" One of the mistresses of the household called into the dining hall.

All chatting in the spacious hall ceased for a moment before the sound of chairs being dragged backwards filled the hall along with voices.

"We'd better get going guys." I suggested to the four kids sat at the table.

They booed and hissed at the prospect of going to school despite their excursion.

"Max that was the stupidest thing you've ever said. You ruined the story!" a blue eyed blonde haired girl with pigtails scolded.

I hushed them as I shooed them away from the table and into the adjoining hall. Everyone's school bags were in little locker spaces ready to be picked up.

"S-shut up Anna it could be true!" Max bit back.

As they each grabbed a little backpack from their lockers.

"Come on guys don't fight or we'll be late." I soothed putting a hand on the head of each of the squabbling kids.

They continued to glare at each other before sticking their tongues out spitefully and turning to the door with a _HUMPH_. I chuckled a little smiling at the Mistress who stood by the door who nodded in return. Three of the kids were already out the door and I turned back to the missing child. David was near his locker shoving books into his bag messily.

"Come on David." I called kindly.

He pushed his circular glasses up hurriedly zipping up his backpack and racing out the door after the others. I slung my own brown book bag over my shoulder following the four kids out. Lisa and Anna immediately grabbed onto my hands swinging them back and forth as they skipped along beside me, the boys following closely behind us.

We left gate of the orphanage which was surrounded by a cement and black spear-like fence at the front of the property. We walked along the path for a few minutes the kids discussing different ideas of what the mountain hid.

"An alien landing site the government is hiding." suggested David factually.

He was a bit of a bookworm; sci-fi was his favourite so that theory wasn't at all surprising.

"I bet there's a colony of vampires hiding from the sun in there." Anna contradicted.

She held her fingers up to the corners of her lips as if to imitate the supernatural creature. I couldn't help but laugh at the act and the look of fear in Lisa's eyes. She was very peaceful like David, but quieter and a bit more timid.

"Nah there's probably nothing on the mountain but birds and tree. I don't get why we're forbidden to go there." Max stated nonchalantly holding his hands behind his head.

"I thought you were afraid of being baked into a pie." I snorted tussling his black hair.

Max swatted my hand away as Anna and Lisa giggled at him.

Max's cheeks burned red "I-I'm not afraid! I'd like to go up there and explore actually!"

He put his hands on his hips and cocked his head upwards. So would I, I couldn't help but agree internally. Max was pretty adventurous compared to the other three kids. He liked sports and the outdoors.

"You dork you know it's forbidden!" Anna sniggered as Max's face grew even redder.

Each child was so different it was a mystery how they even became friends. I wasn't the same as any of them either. Rather I was a combination of the traits which was probably how I managed to get alone so well with all of them. A frown tugged at my lips as I considered Max's words.

He was known to be the ringleader of the group often getting the other three into trouble. It had happened countless times before and this time I wouldn't be there to bail any of them out. We came upon the gate of the school and the four kids went off toward there class area.

"Hold on a second everyone. I want you to listen very closely." The serious tone of my voice seemed to gain the children's attention.

I was rarely known for being serious or getting angry so when I did people were often anxious.

"Now I want you all to promise me you'll be on your best behaviour. Stay with your class and in sight of your teacher. Don't wander off into the forest by yourselves. I'm looking specifically at you Max." My eyes stared at the black haired boy.

He smiled sheepishly fidgeting on his feet.

"The forest can be very dangerous and I don't want any of you to get lost. So be careful and have fun, okay?" I smiled brightly.

The smile seemed to put the four at ease quickly.

"Okay~" The four of them sang honestly agreeing.

I nodded appreciatively at them "I'll be waiting here for you guys this afternoon."

I waved at the four as they ran off toward the junior school area and I went toward the high school buildings. The school day was slow as one would expect of the last day for semester. English, math, break, art, biology, chemistry, lunch break and finally the last subject for the day came, history.

I took a seat in a mid-row near the window. We hadn't learned much today. The teachers had mostly talked about subjects we'd be covering next semester before graduation. I had mostly taken up time in class with doodling in my notebooks rather than taking notes.

After doing a general overview of next semesters learning plan our teacher got up in from of class.

"Now let's discuss something a little closer to home. Can anyone tell me why our city was founded here?" the teacher's eyes scanned the class a grin brimming on his face.

I wasn't really paying attention as was the majority of the class.

"Frisk?" The tip of my graphic pencil snapped as my name was called.

I looked up from my notebook at Mr Brown the high school history teacher. He was a good teacher, in his mid-thirties very enthusiastic and funny with a slight foreign accent from who knows where. I liked him, he was nice.

The only problem I had was that he seemed to have made it his personal mission to get me to 'open up' and 'become more confident'. I didn't consider myself a closed person. In fact apparently I could be quite charismatic when I wanted to be however, large groups frightened me.

If there was one thing I feared more than anything else, it was public speaking. I hated being the centre of attention. I hated giving speeches, because everyone would stare at me. I wasn't sure why but being stared at by a bunch of strangers, the idea made me extremely uncomfortable.

I would start to sweat profusely, my heart would start beating faster and my breathing would shorten. I actually fainted once when I had to give a speech in English class a few years ago. That had not been a good day. Even knowing how uncomfortable it made me and that I was a kid from the orphanage, he never gave up.

Mr Brown knew I was smart and was resolute in finding a way for me to show it. But the thing was, I really didn't want to. I didn't see any reason why I should show off. I knew who I was, why was it important that other people know as well? I didn't really care for the opinions of people whom I didn't know.

Despite that, I could already feel the gross sweaty feeling starting under my armpits. My hands becoming clammy as I felt the eyes of my classmates on me. I closed my eyes and told myself to breath for a second.

"Please Sir allow me to answer. Our city began as a small mining town. Mount Ebott was found to be a rich source of precious minerals, metals and stones." I knew that voice, it was Astrid.

A girl with dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and a tall slim body and was very popular. And who for some reason hated my guts. I had no idea why she was always out to get me but I think it had something to do with this class, in particular Mr Brown.

Astrid was an overachiever and couldn't stand the fact that one of our teachers was more interested in helping me than praising her. Or at least, that was the only reason I could come up with other than she was just a cruel bitch. I liked to think that everyone, even bullies had more depth than that though.

I looked over to where the voice came from and saw her sitting in the desk directly in front of where Mr Brown was leaning against his desk.

"That is true Astrid much of the economic growth of our city we owe to the mining done in previous years." Mr Brown stated flatly.

I looked down at my desk just glad the attention was off me.

I saw Mr Brown frown at Astrid whose beaming smile faded at the look "However the question was not directed at you, nor was that the answer I was looking for. Frisk would you care to answer?"

Mr Brown gazed at me missing the look of rage that spread across Astrid's face. She whipped her head around to glare daggers at me. I could feel myself shrinking under the gaze already. I wasn't a confrontational person. Even if I didn't like something or someone I would probably never say so.

I felt as though being nasty never paid off and you were only hurting yourself and other people in the end. Everything cost a lot in this world but kindness, kindness is free. As I had been told many times when I was a child sometimes kindness was all we could give, sometimes kindness was enough.

I lived by those words or at least I tried to. I know… I know it would make _her_ proud that I did so.

"Our city was founded hundreds of years ago because of Mount Ebott." I stated timidly.

Mr Brown gave me an encouraging look that filled me with _determination_. Of course he had known I would know the answer.

"It was believed by the early settlers, that Mount Ebott was a sacred place with magical properties. The people that believed this became protectors of the mountain and built this town in honour of that role. That is the reason our city is here today, and why mount Ebott is a heritage site." I finished breathing out shakily.

I knew this because history, folklore and ancient myths were some of my favourite subjects, especially those concerning my home. However I did have an affinity for biological science –not so much chemistry or physics- and art as well.

"Correct! The story of the mountain being magical is, of course, an old legend of the town. Access to the mountain and development on its land are restricted today due to the mining mentioned earlier. Much of the Earth beneath the mountain was removed at some point, making it unstable-"

From there Mr Brown took over the teaching but he seemed pleased with my response, even if it had been somewhat slow. I felt satisfied with myself also. For being brave enough to answer even with Astrid attempting to burn holes into my skull with laser vision.

Now that I thought about it she did look rather angry with me I noticed my shoulders drooping. I decided it'd probably be best to not anger her further and simply keep out of her way. About ten minutes later the bell finally rang and the class erupted with shouts and applaud from my classmates.

They were celebrating the end of class for another semester, chatting eagerly about their plans for the break.

"Alright settle down everyone, I'll only take a minute more of your time." Mr Brown called grasping the room of teenagers attention.

He looked over all of us with an expression akin to that of a proud parent, or so I imagined.

"We've learned a lot this semester and I look forward to seeing each of you again in a few weeks, please be safe on your break and have fun."

Almost as soon as Mr Brown had finished speaking students were pouring out the doors of the building and into the courtyard. I hurriedly packed my book bag wanting to reach the school gates as soon as possible. Astrid was talking with Mr Brown at his desk gifting him some homemade sweet as an end of semester present.

That was good, hopefully I could just… sneak… out. I tiptoed as quietly as possible trying to leave without drawing her attention.

It was going well until "Frisk!"

I froze with my hand on the door-handle cursing under my breath. I straightened turning to face Mr Brown who was smiling warmly. I returned his smile, as he had no idea of the trouble he had just caused me.

"I look forward to seeing you next semester Frisk, have a good holiday." He expressed happily.

Astrid was glaring at me again and I couldn't help a slight wince.

"You too Mr Brown." I whispered grasping the door and backing out as I opened it then closed it behind me.

I let out a breath once I was out of sight. I didn't really want to have to deal with Astrid on the last day of semester. I walked to the school gates and stood waiting for my troop. I waved off other kids from the orphanage sending them on their way.

As an elder of the orphanage it was part of my role to make sure all the little ones got back okay. I had been there since I was five I knew the routine very well, it was probably why the mistress's trusted me so much. I don't really know why I was never adopted.

People tended to lean more toward outgoing kids but besides that there wasn't many couple in town looking to adopt. The sad fact was the older you were the less likely you were to be adopted. Couples wanted a child to raise.

Not a teenager who had grown so quickly they could practically take care of themselves already. But I didn't mind so much. I didn't really want to be adopted. Sure having a family would be nice but I mean there were so many kids younger than me who needed a family.

If I could find someone to adopt them I would, even if I were to remain an orphan for the rest of my life. They deserved to have a loving family more than I.

"Hey Frisk!" I barely had time to look up from my thoughtful haven before I was knocked from my feet.

My book bag was torn from my shoulder and pages went flying everywhere before my eyes. My now empty bag was dropped in front of me. I looked down at it confused before looking up as a book came flying toward me smacking my square in the face. My world spun as I tumbled down my sight flashing black.

I opened my eyes seeing shiny black shoes standing in front of my face. I followed them up to legs, a skirt, white blouse then the unhappy looking face of Astrid flanked by her friends.

"Get up." She spat venomously.

I blinked dumbly pushing myself up halfway and feeling my head spin as I did so. My hand shot up to my face wincing as I felt a small cut on the cheek that'd been pressed into the dirt.

"I bet you think you're pretty smart showing me up like that." Astrid hissed hatefully.

I looked at her confused as to why she was doing this.

"Well don't get too confident, because you are _worthless_. No parents, no family, no-one to love you and no-one ever will." She stated with a vile smirk.

Her words cut my insides like a knife because I knew it was true. The only loving family I had ever known was gone now and I was alone. It had been a long time but it was still painful to think about, so I tried not to.

"Tell all the stories you want to Mr Brown and those little brats, none of them are true. In the end you're insignificant. You'll never do anything useful and will amount to nothing." She huffed.

I simply looked at the ground not wanting to say anything that may provoke her further. Astrid seemingly pleased with the extent of her verbal bashing turned on her heel and walked off.

"Freak!" they jeered.

My breath came in a short rasp my teeth gritting as I felt my eyes begin to water. Don't cry, I told myself.

"You're wrong." I muttered to myself more than anyone else.

My eyes narrowed as I clenched my hand into a fist swallowing my hurt.

"Frisk? Are you alright?" the tears pooling in my eyes died immediately.

I gazed sideways seeing Anna, Lisa, Max and David standing off to the side with their backpacks looking concerned. I forced a smile on my face as I bent to collect my belonging.

"I'm fine." I lied pasting a smile on my face.

The walk back to the orphanage was filled with excited chatter as the four kids explained to me all the things that had occurred on the excursion. Lisa squealing at different kinds of bugs, Max tripping over a log while chasing Anna and David laughing at them all.

When we got back I went straight to my room and sat on my bed quietly. I opened a Band-Aid package peeling the cover from one as I placed it on the small wound on my cheek. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened so I was used to it.

But it was the first time I had reacted that way and it frightened me. Usually I just kept quiet until they finally left but this time something had happened. Something felt different… I… I was just frustrated. I flopped back in bed and curled up in a ball closing my eyes.

My mind wandered into memories I hadn't thought on in a long time. Usually I would push them away whenever they came up but this time I just let them flow into my mind.

" _My sweet little Frisk. You are so beautiful, special and kind. I love you so much. Don't ever change_."

I felt a warm sensation in my chest as I remembered how her soft arms would embrace my small form in a warm hug.

"Mum…"

A lone tear rolled down my cheek.

"I miss you."

And for the first time in a long time I had the urge to go back to that place.

The one from my last happy childhood memory. I felt my chest swell as I sat up in bed. Yes I would go there, I decided. I got dressed in one of my favourite outfits. A blue sweater with two purple stripes along the chest, short shorts that were the same shade of blue as my top and brown hiking boots.

I hoped to leave the orphanage without anyone finding out but as it would seem, luck was not on my side.

"Where do you think you're going?" Elena asks me as I stood in the doorway of the house.

I shuffled on my feet toward the door as I wrung my hands.

"To… to visit my mum." I spoke softly staring out the door longingly.

Elena's brow pinched in a mixture of concern and astonishment. It was pretty much an unwritten rule in the orphanage that parents weren't to be mentioned, _ever_. Bringing it up usually only caused pain which was understandable in an orphanage for children.

I especially never talked about my parents or how I ended up here. So to hear me even utter the word mum was surprising for her I understood. Usually I went and visited her only on the anniversary but I felt as though I needed to go there. Elena stared at me for a moment longer before finally nodding.

"Alright but if you get in trouble from the mistresses then don't say I didn't warn you." She cautioned turning on her heel and strutting back the way she came.

I let out a sigh of silent thanks as I closed the door behind me. It was late autumn so the air was a bit nippy but my sweater kept me warm. I walked to a bus stop before catching a bus closer to my destination.

From there I walked into the forest surrounding the base of mount Ebott jumping the flimsy fence to walk in deeper. It didn't take me long, maybe a few minutes before I arrived. An old park in a clearing of the wood. The swings creaked in desperate need of oiling as they swung lightly in the breeze.

The slide had long since been removed leaving only the rusty swings. I padded slowly over to the swings plopping down in the one on the right. I ran my fingers over the metal chain as I swung slightly. It seemed much bigger back then. Of course it would though. It had been what?

Ten years, or more since I'd come here. Of course I visited my mother's official grave every year and laid flowers there. But this place had been our favourite, a special place. We came here every week, and every week she would tell me that story of the mountain.

I missed this place. I… I missed her. I looked over my shoulder at the mountain looming above me another memory surfacing.

" _Mum do monsters really live in the mountain_?" I had asked staring up at the mountain peak.

Unlike the swings it still seemed as ginormous and confronting as it had back then, despite how I'd grown.

My mother had smiled at me and squeezed my small hand " _I'm not sure, no-one really is. But I do believe there is truth in every legend_."

I remembered how she told that story with such conviction. I had really thought monsters lived there when I was little.

" _I think they do! We should climb up there and say hello to them one day. They're our neighbours after all!"_ I had proposed naively.

My mother had laughed at me causing me to become annoyed and puff my cheeks out. I knew better now. I knew she was laughing because I was just an innocent child.

" _It's not funny! I really do want to climb the mountain and I will!_ " I had shouted with determination.

My mother quelled her laughter picking up my small frame and resting me on her hip.

" _You'll just have to wait until you're older. The mountain is too dangerous for little people like you_." She had nuzzled her head against mine making me squeal.

I pushed my mother's head away looking into her eyes with more willpower than a child should be able to muster.

" _You promise? We'll go when I'm older_?" I examined her closely.

She only looked at me with a kind expression.

" _I promise_."

I closed my eyes as I swung trying to find a sense of peace by distracting my mind before I could think back more on the events that followed.

We had made that promise and now here I was and I still had never been up there. I was too afraid to come back. Now I was here, at the base of the mountain. I was older and stronger. I could make it to the peak without too much trouble surely… Yes, I would do it!

I would climb the mountain and find out what's up there. Not just for me, but for her too… Nodding to myself finally I hopped off the swing and began my accession of the mountain. The peak wasn't very far so I could make it back before it got dark if I hurried.

I would find out what's up there and tell all the kids about it. I doubted it would be anything magical but there should be a nice view at the very least. The thought of finally making it to the top after only dreaming about it for years got me excited. I would keep our promise.

My excitement and determination allowed me to climb with vigour. It was late afternoon when I started but I hit a few bumps in the road, literally. I fell over rocks and branches on the track multiple times. The path up the mountain was indeed treacherous.

The plants of the forest had overgrown onto the trail all over the place. It was hard to distinguish what was trail and what wasn't. I suspected that I must have strayed off it at various times before finding it again. By the time I had nearly reached the summit the sun had almost set.

I was beginning to regret letting my curiosity get the better of me. At this rate I'd be going down in the dark. That did not sound appealing but it couldn't be helped. I came upon a lip on the mountain face that had a large hole in its side.

A cave with stalagmites and stalactites hanging near its entrance making it look like a giant creature opening its toothy maw to swallow me up. It seemed like a good place to rest before heading back. I could always come back another day to shoot for the summit.

Despite the rumours about people disappearing on the mountain I hadn't seen anything dangerous so far and it gave me confidence that I could come back again. I stepped inside the cavernous hole touching the walls of cave before retracting my hand at the damp sensation.

It seemed the walls of the cave were wet. Perhaps there was a natural spring in here, I thought. That would be most excellent considering my parched throat. I decided to explore the cave a bit, walking further into the depths of its darkness.

I could hear a soft dripping noise coming from somewhere unknown and tried to follow its sound. I could hear the noise of my feet scuffing the ground echoing in the cave as I moved forward. The cave seemed to brighten suddenly as I came to a place where a giant hole in the ceiling sat like a sky light.

It cast a very yellowish and pink glow into the cave. Bits of weed and ivy were scattered along the ground and walls of the cave reaching for the light provided by the hole in the cave roof. Directly underneath the skylight was a wide abyss like cavity in the ground. This sight… There was something about it.

It was recognizable, like I knew it from somewhere. I took tentative steps forward toward the black void only for my clumsy distracted feet to catch on one of the ivy vines. My breath hitched as I tumbled forward.

I gave a small cry anticipating a hard fall, but after a few seconds of no such occurrence I realised something. The light of the sky was getting further and further away. There was wind rushing past my ears making a roaring sound as my hair whipped about messily.

I was falling speedily down that giant crevice. A scream ripped its way from my mouth as I plummeted with nothing to stop my speedy descent. Then a familiar sensation of being swallowed by darkness came as I blacked out.

-.-.-.-

 _I'm sorry._

 _So, so sorry._

 _I didn't mean to hurt you._

 _I never wanted to hurt you, or anyone._

 _It wasn't me, it was her._

 _But I…_

 _I wasn't strong enough._

 _So it is my fault after all._

 _Forgive me…_

 _Will you do me one last favour?_

 _Please…_

 _Please kill me!_

-Resetting-

The sound of shattering like glass thrown against a hard surface. I blinked my eyes seeing nothing but black. I felt light as if I was floating on air but at the same time I felt numb and couldn't feel my body.

"Where am I?..." my voice seemed to echo in the darkness.

There was no reply to my question.

"What is this place?..." I whispered looking around.

I tried to find something, anything, a sign of life.

 _Was I dead_?

" _ **Not quite**_." I then saw it a shape in the darkness.

I could barely make it out but what I could see was a pair of distorted red eyes shining through the dark.

"W-who are you?" I found myself whimpering as a sense of fear gripped me.

" _ **Hehe forgotten already have you? Well luckily for me it's the norm for you to forget when resetting**_." The voice twittered happily.

I remained silent judging from the depth of the voice and the way in which is spoke it seemed to be female and young too. Still what this voice said confused me. Reset? What did that mean? It sounded vaguely familiar.

" _ **You'll be waking up soon, but before you go I'd just like to say something even if you won't remember**_ **…** " There was complete silence for a moment as the red eyes glowed even brighter revealing a warped black smile.

" _ **I know you don't remember it but, you ruined everything for me. Everything was perfect. I was so close, and I would have finished it too, if you hadn't stopped me. So now… I WaNt To SeE yOu SuFfEr**_." The voice that was once sweet changed into a much deeper voice filled with malice.

I wanted to scream but at that moment the darkness seemed to become thick like ice cold water filling my lungs. I gasped trying to move my arms and escape it but the ability to move still escaped me. I was drowning in the inky blackness. It was filling my lungs and swallowing me up.

 _NO!_

Then a bright light shone through the darkness.

* * *

So that was the first chapter

like I said we'll see more familiar faces in the next chapter

As for other notes sorry if the first few chapters are bad

I'm still trying to find my way about the new characters

also I don't have a beta for this story (if anyone's interested PM me)

And another thing is I'm not terribly far ahead in chapter writing for this story

I kind of wrote it spontaneously not expecting to publish it so soon

and this story isn't my main focus either so updates will be sporadic

I'm mainly writing this for the fun and love of Undertale

anyway

If you have any questions, suggestions, want to be my beta or just wanna chat send in a review or feel free to PM me, I'm always happy to talk.

That's all for now my beautiful readers

until next time

 **LEAF OUT!**


	2. TuToriel

Hi there reader LeafeonLover here back with another chapter of ST

I know, I know, it hasn't been very long at all

but I mainly wanted to get out a few more chapter so people would know where this story is going more

cause I mean it's hard to decide if you like a story after only one chapter

I personally always read at least a few before deciding whether to continue or not

so here's chapter 1 where we finally see some familiar faces but we're still kind of in a introductory stage

really I meant to smash the tutoriel part of the game out in one chapter

but I realised that was never going to happen pretty quickly

anyway just a few things before you start reading as a reminder/explation

 _ **italics and bold**_ is chara speaking

 _italics_ is emphasised words/speech in memories

and later when used in " _quotations_ " will signify speech of a Lost Soul

'single quotations' are used to convey something that is read off a plaque, sign, paper things like that

oh I'd also like to say thank you to everyone that reviewed, favourited and followed the story after only one chapter

you are all beautiful and I love you

at the end AN I'll write some replies to the reviews I got so if you reviewed last time check that out

now without further ado

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

Chapter 1

TuToriel

-RESET-

Everything was dark as I stared down the fallen girl with hate filled red eyes.

" _ **So you've come back again have you?"**_

" _ **I knew you would. You would never leave them. You care for them too much.**_ "

" _ **You want to save them? Why do you even care so much? Everyone… They just end up hurting us.**_ "

" _ **You asked me, why are you doing this? Someone like you would never understand. Believe me if I could leave I would. But I'm trapped here and neither of us can escape.**_ "

The unconscious girl of course couldn't respond but that fact only encouraged me.

" _ **It won't be long now then…**_ "

" _ **You'll travel through the underground making friends with every monster that crosses your path, so you can finally give them that happy ending. Yay!**_ "

" _ **Haha as if!**_ "

My mouth turned upward as I felt my face contort in a sickly grin with red leaking from my lips and eyes.

" _ **You'll be killed eventually.**_ "

" _ **And when you are, I'll be right here… waiting.**_ "

I touched a hand to the left side of the girl's chest a red heart shining from within her body.

" _ **Then it will be my turn once more.**_ "

With that my unstable transparent form was sucked into the glowing red soul tinting it with black for only just a moment.

-.-.-.-

Light peaked in through the cracks of my eyelids stirring me from a deep slumber. I shifted slightly where I lay, feeling something soft brush against my cheek. At first I thought it was just the covers of my bed, but as I rolled over to grasp at the mattress I felt something course and grainy meet my fingertips.

Fluttering my eyes open they were greeted by a sea of yellow swaying lightly before my eyes. Delicate yellow petals of golden flowers tickled my face as I breathed in and out. Buttercups… They were very pretty. I closed my eyes thinking that I was dreaming and waited to wake up.

I waited, and waited, but nothing changed. I could feel the flowers surrounding me and the soft soil they grew in beneath me. It was taking a long time. Elena should have woken me by now. Oh wait today was Saturday wasn't it, no school.

Besides it was the holidays now, the last day of school was yesterday… I breathed in shortly as I was reminded of what had happened at school the day before when the cut on my cheek stung. As those memories came so to, did the last thing about that day, falling down a giant hole.

My eyes snapped open as I sat up straight and looked around wildly. I saw stone walls all around me. I sat in a small bed of large golden flowers. Slowly gazing upward I could make out a hole far above me that sunlight poured through onto the flowers.

Slowly standing up I groaned as my aching body complained at the action. Looking down I saw the flowers I'd been laying on, they seemed more than a little crushed. I guessed they must have broken my fall, probably saved my life.

"Sorry little guys." I apologised to the flowers trying to prop them back up.

Half of them had broken stems, so there wasn't much I could do but hope they'd fix up themselves with time. Looking myself over for injuries I found that I was mostly just bruised in some places from the fall. I was just happy to be alive.

If I'd fallen head first without flowers to cushion my fall… I surely would have snapped my neck and died. An image of my body lying beside the flower bed with a twisted neck flashed in my mind. I quickly shook my head to dislodge the disturbing image.

My clothes weren't torn or anything, just dirty from lying amongst the soil and plants. I raised a hand and ran it over my hair feeling a few leaves, petals and twigs stuck amongst the brown locks. I made quick work of getting those out.

Now that was all worked out I had to try and find a way out of this hole, or at least signal for help. Stepping carefully out of the flower patch I walked up to the closest wall. The walls of the cave looked pretty smooth. No rocks jutting out I could use as hand or footholds.

I doubted I'd be able to climb out without some sort help. There was a hole in the ceiling of the cave I came in through. If I could start a signal fire then perhaps someone would see it and come rescue me. There weren't many materials here for starting a fire, apart from the flowers and some rocks.

I didn't much like the idea of burning the flowers that had saved my life but, it seemed like the best option right now. I gave a sigh turning around to gather some of the broken flowers and possibly suitable fire starting rocks but stopped in my tracks.

"Or I could just go through there." I murmured.

I hadn't seen them before, having been too preoccupied with escaping to notice the two giant stone pillars marking the entrance to a dark corridor. The pillars appeared to be made of the same grey stone as the walls and floor but had been carved with great care and looked vaguely roman in design.

Above the two pillars was an arch with a stone carving of a strange symbol. A dot with a pair of angelic wings and three triangles –two on the edge pointing upward while the one in the middle pointed down- beneath it. The pillars and carving looked pretty old but even so, they gave me hope.

Obviously this was a man made structure, so that meant other people had been down here at some point. And if other people had been down here, than there must be some sort of exit somewhere. Mount Ebott was considered sacred at one time.

Perhaps this doorway marked the entrance to a holy place, like a shrine, that had been long forgotten? What if I was the first person to set foot in this place for hundreds of years?! With new found determination I took purposefully steps past the pillars and into the shadowed corridor.

Past the doorway it got so dark I stumbled around in the blackness, despite the ground being very even. Pressing on forward a beam of light broke through the ceiling revealing a small patch of grass with a single golden flower. This flower however, seemed a bit different to the ones in the previous room.

It had only six, very large yellow petals while the middle, the part where the carpels and stamen usually were, was rounded and white. It vaguely reminded me of the structure of a sunflower only with fewer petals and no discernible florets, which was kinda strange.

It gave me an odd feeling. I don't _think_ I'd ever seen a flower quite like it before. If I had I surely would recall it. Perhaps it was new species! One that was only native to mount Ebott. That would be pretty amazing. My exploratory expedition seemed to be going well!

Expect for when I fell down that hole, can't go out the way I came and everyone's probably worried about me by now, but apart from that! I walked toward the flower hoping to examine it more closely. To ingrain every detail of its features in my mind.

Then relay them to others when I got back to the surface. As I approached, the flower quivered oddly as if in response to my proximity. The sound of my footsteps on the stone drawing near to it seemed to awaken the flower.

The white centre of the yellow flower shifted, cracks forming on its surface. Two beady black eyes opened to stare at me as a grin spread on the flower's face.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey. Flowey the flower!" it greeted.

I froze where I stood. Did- did that flower just introduce itself to me? It couldn't have. Flowers don't talk.

 _ **Well this one does**_.

My eyes widened at the sound of a fleeting voice muttering distastefully in my head.

"Hmmm…" Flowey hummed looking at my horrified expression in delight.

Despite his voice being very bright it had a bit of depth to it making me think this talking flower was male. Could a talking flower even have a gender? Urg who cares! The grin on Flowey's face never seemed to falter as it stared at me. In fact it only seemed to grow with my discomfort.

"You're new to the Underground, aren' tcha?" he asked rhetorically leaning over to the right.

I guessed it was meant to be an action of tilting his head in question, but it didn't look quite right when all he had for a body was a green stem.

"Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here!" Flowey exclaimed brightly.

I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact a flower was _talking_ to me. My legs were shaking where I stood.

"I guess little old me will have to do." he decided almost gladly.

I was beginning to think I had hit my head when I fell down here. This couldn't be real. Perhaps I was like Alice, in a strange place that was just my unconscious mind.

"Ready? Here we go!" Flowey yelled.

I felt a sudden swell in my chest as the world around me seemed to flicker suddenly. The colour drained out of my vision changing it to all manners of grey, like a black and white movie. The only colour I could see was a bright red glow that emanated from below.

Looking down I saw a tiny red heart no bigger than the size of my palm glowing there. It seemed to be mostly within the centre of my body slightly leaning toward the left of my chest.

"What is this!?" I panicked clutching at the fabric of my sweater near where the heart was situated.

I could feel a sort of strange sensation of warmth leaking from the glowing heart.

"You mean that heart? That is your Soul, the very culmination of your being." Flowey informed expertly.

I knew the concept of what souls were, well sort of. No-one is really sure exactly _what_ a soul actually is, are they? No human had ever seen one from what I knew, until now. I vaguely remembered being told once that every living thing had a soul.

But a lot of people didn't believe souls actually existed. Souls don't have physical forms so you can't see them. It can be hard to believe in something you can't see. Personally I had always found the idea of souls interesting. Something you couldn't see, but you can feel.

Souls, they… somehow, they give us life. Your soul it's who you are. Your hopes, your dreams, personality, emotions, even memories, _everything_.

"My… soul." I whispered blinking my wide eyes at the tiny heart.

It was felt familiar and comforting.

"Yeah your soul…" Flowey spoke softly looking slightly puzzled.

Flowey seemed to shake off whatever ever he was thinking about regaining a cheerful tone.

"Your soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV. What's LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course!" Flowey chirped.

I hadn't even had a chance to ask what LV meant before he answered. It seemed as if Flowey was in a hurry for some reason.

"You want some LOVE, don't you?" Flowey asked doing the tilting thing again only in the other direction.

What was LOVE anyway? It didn't seem like it meant the same thing for him as it did for me.

"Ummm-"

"Don't worry, I'll share some with you!" Flowey cut in before I could answer.

Flowey winked at me cheekily poking his tongue out. I furrowed my brows slightly at this. Sure flowers can talk so why not have tongues too?

"Down here, LOVE is shared through… little white… _friendliness pellets_." Flowey squinted his eyes lightly.

While saying this some little white ovals appeared. They seemed to materialise from Flowey's form floating above his petals and spinning on the spot. Flowey wasn't sure what to call them by the sound of it.

"Are you ready? Move around! Get as many as you can!" Flowey encouraged sending the little white seeds toward me.

I was still sceptical about all this. I felt as though something was off. This felt familiar… like I remembered it from somewhere… I closed my eyes for a second a fuzzy image playing in my mind along with a sense of pain radiating from my soul.

If souls were real then… it must be a precious thing, right? I got the feeling it was. Like I should protect it. And Flowey, he wasn't being entirely truthful with me, was he? I opened my eyes the pellets flying toward me and without thinking I ducked under them at the last second.

The pellets disappeared after going about a metre past me. Flower looked a bit unhappy with what I'd done. I was sorry for making him angry but my heart, no my soul told me it was the right thing.

"Hey buddy, you missed them. Let's try again, okay?" Flowey spoke in a patronizing tone.

I couldn't even get a word in to tell him I'd rather not have any of his LOVE. More white pellets had appeared and were already flying in my direction. This time I side stepped them opening my mouth to speak but Flowey cut me off again.

"Is this a joke? Are you _braindead_?" Flowey spat. I flinched at the harshness of his tone.

Flowey saw my frightened look, grit his teeth and attempted to maintain a steady tone.

"RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS- er _Friendliness Pellets_." Flowey ground out quickly fixing his little slip up concerning the seeds' name.

After seeing how angry he got when I dodged them. I was pretty sure those seeds weren't made for friendliness as Flowey had advised. He had just called them _bullets_ too. Bullets were usually meant for hurting people. Flowey wanted to hurt me, didn't he?

"Liar." I muttered without thinking.

 _ **Interesting**_.

I ignored that voice and slid past the seeds on the other side. Fixing my gaze on Flowey I wondered what he'd do now since I wasn't playing along.

To my fright the friendly face that Flowey was holding morphed in front of me. It changed to one with cavernous black eyes with tiny white pupils and twisted fanged mouth.

"You know what's going on here, don't you?" Flowey questioned in a warped voice.

A shiver ran up my spine as my legs started shaking again.

"I- I-" I stammered.

I was in big trouble now.

"You just wanted to see me _suffer_." His distorted voice continued as he summoned more pellets.

Without warning the bullets shot at me homing in on the glowing red heart in my chest and crashing into it. I gasped as pain shot through my system causing me to fall hard to the ground. I saw something strange from in the corner of my eyes.

A red bar with a tiny sliver of yellow at the start that had the letters HP with the numbers 1/20 next to it was blinking in and out of my vision. I breathed heavily my heart thumping in panic as I tried to overcome the pain and get away.

As much as I tried though, I couldn't even stand. Flowey gave me a twisted grin as white pellets appeared entrapping me in a deadly ring.

"DIE!" I cowered before the wicked flower.

Squeezing my eyes shut and waiting for the end to come. I heard Flowey laugh manically at my pain as the pellets drew near. If this is a dream… I'd like to wake up now! Please! Just let me wake up!

That voice laughed _**ThIs IsN't A dReAm**_.

I expected more pain to come but instead there was only heat. It had suddenly gotten very warm. Just when I was beginning to think I had died without knowing it I opened my eyes. Flowey looked confused as the flaming seeds around me dropped from the air until they burnt away into nothing.

Then a fireball came zooming across in front of me and directly at Flowey's position. The flower's face contorted in rage before he ducked away into the ground leaving only cracks in the dirt behind him. My eyes slowly trailed in the direction the fireballs had come from.

Standing just a short distance away with her fist ablaze, still held out in a striking pose, was a goat woman. At least I think she was a goat woman… Perhaps she was a mixed breed? She didn't have any hooves. Her hands and feet were large pawed appendages.

Her feet seemed to be close to that of lions or other large cat only she stood upright on two legs like a human. I could see small claws protruding from both pair of paws. My eyes trailed upward to stare at the creatures head. She seemed to be a mix between a dog and a goat.

Her head's structure seemed to lean more toward a dog's as she had a long snout and fangs clearly protruded from her muzzle. Her ears were long and floppy like a goat's though and she had small curved horns near the top of her head too.

It appeared as though her entire body was covered in fine white fur judging from the parts of her I could see. I knew the creature was female. I'm not fully sure why but… it was partially because of the shape of her body and eyes.

She had long eyelashes, warm red eyes and clearly had breasts like human women do, even though her clothes mostly covered the shape of her body. The goat woman's clothes were another interesting thing altogether.

She wore a deep purple robe that only just didn't cover her pawed feet, and had long white cream coloured sleeves which stopped at her wrists. There was something else about the dress. The symbol on her chest was the same one I'd seen etched into the stone above the doorway of this hall.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth…" she muttered as if Flowey had left an unpleasant taste in her mouth.

The goat woman turned her harden gaze away from where Flowey had been rooted settling a much softer gaze on me. She opened her fisted paw, the flames engulfing it immediately dissipating. The goat woman padded closer to me slowly.

Compared to my height she towered over me, which was rather intimidating. I found myself clumsily scrambling backward still fearing that my life was in danger. I wasn't sure why there was a flashing red bar in the corner of my vision but I knew it couldn't be good.

My body screamed at me to get away from any threat in response to it. My chest ached as my soul trembled humming softly within my chest. The goat woman stopped moving forward.

Her eyes tweaking in a sad gaze as she slowly lowered herself down to kneel on the ground before me. Now she was on my level I found her slightly less menacing.

"Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins." She greeted quietly as to not frighten me.

The goat woman, Toriel, looked at me her eyes staring pointedly above my head a frown appearing on her furry face.

"Your HP has been severely depleted. It is fortunate I came by at this time…" Toriel trailed off shaking her head.

 _ **Or you'd be dead,**_ that voice finished in my mind.

"W-worry not! I have something that will help." Toriel faltered cheerfully.

Digging into her loose sleeve with a large paw Toriel produced something from within. Whatever she was holding crinkled slightly like alfoil as she gently held it out to me. I wasn't sure whether I should trust this goat woman or not. Sure seemed nice, but so had Flowey...

And if a talking flower could try to kill me, why not a goat woman too? Although she did save me from Flowey… Killing me now would be counterproductive, wouldn't it? I looked at the goat woman for a long moment noting the way she smiled reassuringly with a kind gleam in her eyes.

It reminded me of _her_. Raising my hand up I hesitantly took the item Toriel was holding.

"Eat it. It will help recover your lost HP." Toriel explained patiently.

It turned out to be a chocolate bar I was holding. I looked the package over in my hands seeing how it read 'MTT brand milk chocolate'. That wasn't a brand name I'd ever heard of before. Still I tore off the wrappings and took a bite out of the chocolate bar.

It was extremely sweet, almost too much so. I was never a big fan of chocolate, but I wasn't so impolite as to turn down Toriel's charity when she had saved me.

I also noticed that as I ate the chocolate the red bar in my eyesight stopped blinking and began turning yellow the more I ate. I felt as though this was a good thing. The world returned to colour once the HP bar was full.

"Thanks." I whispered gratefully.

I gazed up at Toriel meekly wondering how she knew that would help. Did she know what that HP thing meant?

"What does HP mean?" I asked Toriel shyly.

She simply sat and waited uncomplainingly for me to adjust to the situation. That bar had appeared when Flowey had started attacking me but I only noticed it when it started going red.

Toriel blinked at me as if it was common knowledge before seeming to realise I was new here and didn't know how things worked. I waited for her explanation knowing that if she was kind she would answer.

"HP is an acronym for Hit Points. It's a measurement of your state of health, something that all humans and monsters have." She explained knowingly.

Toriel looked glad I was so curious then standing up from her position kneeling on the ground.

"I'll explain more soon little one. For now I will ask that you to follow me, so I may guide you through the catacombs. It's not safe for you to go alone." Toriel held her paw out to me to help me up.

I studied her expression for a moment as she smiled kindly at me. She wasn't demanding I come with her, more like making a friendly suggestion. So far Toriel had only been compassionate toward me so… I trusted her.

Taking the paw offered to me I grasped it as Toriel pulled me up smiling brighter. Toriel's paw was much larger than my hand pretty much engulfing mine completely. Her fur was extremely soft though, like a puppy's was.

I quickly let go of Toriel's hand once I stood on my own two feet. I held them to my sides timidly cautious. She began leading me through the tunnels of the cave. Oddly they seemed to light up with a warm fiery glow when Toriel walked through them.

I guessed it was because she was creating fire to light our way. I wasn't certain though as I couldn't see what she was doing with her paws from behind her.

"I pass through this place every day to see if anyone had fallen down. You are the first human to come here in a long time." Toriel informed me.

My head perked at her words. Other humans had fallen down here before? Where were they? Come to think of it where was I?

"Umm Toriel where exactly is _here_?" I questioned shyly.

I hadn't known the goat woman very long and I didn't want to accidently upset her.

"This place is known by monster kind as the Underground. The part of the Underground we are currently in is known as the Ruins. This is my home." Toriel told me without much of a pause.

Well she had said she was the caretaker of the ruins, hadn't she? I guess that meant she was something like a shrine maiden for this place. But something else Toriel had said caught my attention.

"Monster kind? Y-you mean there are other creatures like you down here?" I stuttered failing to keep the fear from rising in my chest.

It had only been minutes ago I'd be close to death at the hands, or rather leaves of that flower. The thought of there being more _things_ like Flowey down here wasn't exactly a pleasant one. Toriel paused in her walk to turn and look at me a ball of fire blazing in her right paw.

"Yes there are many different kinds of monsters in the Underground. You will meet some of the monsters that live here in the ruins. Most monsters are not friendly toward humans… they may, try to harm you." Toriel's expression grew dark for a moment as if remembering something painful.

Concerned for the kindly goat woman I tugged on the side of her dress lightly. I called out to her softly "Toriel?"

Toriel came back to herself, smiling again and patting me on the head gently with her free paw. I surprised myself by not flinching away from her touch. Actually I kinda enjoyed how it felt.

"Worry not my child, I will protect you." She promised.

Turning around again Toriel continued through the long hallway. We finally emerged into a spacious room. The room started out dark but it suddenly became light when lanterns on the walls burst to life as Toriel waved her paw.

"How do you do that?!" I exclaimed with an awful expression.

Toriel turned to gaze at me, with a look of surprise at my sudden outburst. I felt heat on my cheeks as I lowered my head bashfully.

"All monsters possess some form of magic, my specialty is fire magic." Toriel explains holding her paw toward me.

I watched as something sparked in the centre of her paw a small flame appearing to dance on her fingertips. It was very beautiful and equally as impressive.

"I guess you could say I really know how to _turn up the heat_." Toriel jested before laughing heartily at her own joke.

It was a pretty weak pun but I found a small smile edged its way onto my face. Seeing my smile Toriel had a very pleased look on her face. My nerves were frayed and my senses were in overdrive but, something about the way Toriel joked. It put me at ease.

I wasn't sure why, so instead I chose to inspect the new room we had entered. The sides of the chamber were unlike the ones I'd previously seen. They were composed of purple bricks covering all the walls. Even the ground was purple, although it didn't appear to be composed of bricks.

Near the front centre of the room was a square made of red leaves on the ground. Directly in front of the leaf square was a huge pile of crinkled leaves the same shape and colour as the ones arranged in a square.

They seemed to have slid down the stone slope in front of them that had a staircase on both sides. At the top of the stairs there was another doorway and two glassless windows. Ivy grew in the space between the doorway and the windows going all the way to the ceiling.

"This way." Toriel directed walking up the stairs on the right.

She was very careful to walk around the leaf square and not disturb any of the leaves. This made me think that she was probably the one who had arranged the leaves that way. I wondered why she did that. Where did the leaves even come from?

I couldn't see any trees close by. How was there even ivy on the doorway? There was no natural sunlight entering the room. I shook my head and decided to disregard these oddities. After all, it wasn't the strangest thing I'd seen down here yet.

By this time Toriel had already disappeared through the doorway and I hurried to catch up with her. If there were other monsters in the Underground that would try to hurt me. I didn't want to lose the one monster that would protect me.

Coming into the next room Toriel was waiting for me just over the threshold. The room already lit by her fire magic. This room was much smaller than the last but the walls and floor were the same colour. Directly across from me was a tall set of doors with that strange symbol Toriel had on her robes carved into it.

To the left of the doors was a metal plaque but it was too far away to read what it said. To my right were six grey stones slightly elevated off the ground arranged in pairs. The two buttons in the middle row were positioned so they weren't in line with the other buttons.

They were also on a part of the floor that was a shade lighter than the rest. It was however the same shade as the pathway that connected the two doors.

"Welcome to your new home, innocent one. Allow me to educate you in the operation of the ruins." Toriel spoke sweetly.

She turned to the right and walked over the four elevated stones that were not in the middle column. Once she stepped on one it pressed into the ground and stayed that way. It appeared as though the stones were actually buttons that activated when pressed down on.

Once all four of the outside buttons were pressed Toriel pulled down a yellow switch on the wall in front of them. The doors on the other side of the room slide open with a stone scraping sound.

"The ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them." Toriel illuminated.

I nodded in understanding stepping forward Toriel smiled moving into the next room. I got the feeling Toriel thought I was a kid. Well, I suppose I was a kid compared to her. I wasn't an expert in the aging of monsters, or anything really, but in human years she looked to be in her forty's.

She was very patient, kind and wise though, which led me to believe she was probably much older than that. Toriel just gave off a very distinctly motherly vibe. It reminded me of the way a grandmother may call their grandchild a baby even if they were well into adulthood.

I wasn't quite that old yet, but I'm pretty sure my shortness combined with my young features was misleading her. My own grandmother died before I even reached double digit age like my mother had. But, Toriel was just what I imaged having a grandmother like that would be like.

Sighing I walked over to the plaque stuck on the far wall to read what it said. 'Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road.' It read. Toriel had stepped on all the buttons except those in the middle, I remembered looking at the buttons.

This plaque was then a clue for solving this room's puzzle. I wondered if there were other hints like this for the ruins puzzles. Curious to see more of the ruins I went through the door seeing Toriel waiting for me once again.

To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry, I have labelled the ones you need to flip." Toriel chuckled at my apprehensive expression.

She walked to the left over a small foot bridge. This space was larger than the last two rooms put together. It was very long and had small channels of water running in through grates in the wall.

I wasn't sure where the water was coming from but it wasn't absurd that there might be an underground spring here. I did remember the cave I had fallen from being wet for some reason. Maybe this was why.

There was a plaque on the far wall but not wanting to keep Toriel waiting I followed after her. On the wall between two channels of water was a yellow switch that had arrows pointing toward it drawn in yellow marker. It wasn't hard to figure out that was the one I needed to press.

There were no other options anyway. Going over to the switch I pulled it down with one hand. Toriel nodded happily at me before motioning for me to follow her over the next footbridge. In the next section of the room there were two switches with the one on the left being similarly marked.

Toriel stood in front of a row of sharp looking spikes in the ground anticipating me flipping the correct switch. So I flipped that switch, the second marked switch.

"Splendid! I am proud of you, little one." Toriel clapped her hands together joyfully.

I scratched the back of my head bashfully. The puzzles here didn't seem very difficult. They were so easy a child could do them. But I guess the switches couldn't have always been marked like this. I wonder why Toriel made it easier.

"Let us move to the next room." Toriel sang hurrying forward.

Looking closely at the second unmarked switch I realised it didn't even work when I tried to press it. Shrugging my shoulders I went after Toriel into the next room. The room I came into was small, only a third of the last.

There were no puzzles in this room it seemed. In fact the only think in this room was a stuffed dummy hung on a wooden pole. Toriel gave a sigh as she looked at the dummy turning away from me as she spoke.

"As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation." Toriel's voice held a slight bitter tone.

I was very interested to hear what she said however. I didn't want what had happened with Flowey to happen again. I wasn't sure I would survive another encounter like that.

"However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a Fight." Toriel spoke a bit more brightly though it seemed strained.

She didn't seem to like the idea of me getting into fights with other monsters. I didn't like the prospect much myself, but this was necessary.

"You mean when everything turns grey and my soul glows?" I queried my voice growing stronger with my confidence.

Toriel nodded happily in reply to my question.

"That's right! While you are in a Fight, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come resolve the conflict." Toriel assured.

It did make me feel safe knowing Toriel was willing to defend me when she barely knew me. I was a bit concerned though… what if I met a monster and Toriel wasn't there to save me? I didn't want to hurt anyone but I didn't exactly want to die either.

"Practice talking to this dummy and I'll give you some pointers." Toriel instructed.

I vaguely wondered how she knew how a human fought in Fight in the first place.

"Okay." I replied walking slowly over to the dummy.

I stood in front of it not exactly sure what I should do. It was pretty much a sack stuffed with hay, a rounded cone head and two buttons sewn on for eyes. The world abruptly flickered turning grey as my soul glowed red in my chest.

I didn't know it was even possible to fight a dummy since it wasn't alive. However something was different about this fight. In the corner of my eyes I could see my HP reading 20/20, but next to it were more letters and a number, LV 1. Flowey had said something about LV hadn't he?

Did those letters really stand for LOVE? I didn't think I should take anything that flower said to heart. He hadn't been very trustworthy on other subjects, but Toriel had so I decided to ask her about it.

"What does LV mean?" I turned my head toward where Toriel was standing in the doorway.

She was watching me closely but as soon as I asked this she paused, her furry lips pursing for a second.

"It stands for LOVE which is not a good thing for monsters or humans. I would advise you not try to increase your LV." Toriel's voice was gravely serious.

She shook her head then smiling at me once more.

"Now look at your opponent. During a Fight is when a monster's or human's magic is most powerful. When in a Fight, you will see the name and health of your opponent if you look above their head." She gestured at the dummy.

Looking closely at the dummy I saw the words 'Dummy' along with a yellow health bar floating above its head. That must have been why Toriel had been looking above me back when we first met. She could see my health was low meaning I was close to dying.

"Monsters will use their magic to attack and lower your HP. A Fight can end when one participants HP hits zero, the remaining combatant is the victor." Toriel continued.

She purposely avoided the subject of dying I noticed. She didn't want to scare me I thought pressing my lips together.

"But this isn't the only way to end a Fight. Through certain actions or speech you can convince a monster to stop fighting and Spare it." Toriel looked hopefully at me.

I stood there still not sure what to do but that option sounded better than fighting.

"And umm how do I do that exactly?" I asked biting my lip helplessly.

I wasn't so good at talking with strangers especially if they were trying to kill me.

"Listen to your soul. It will show you what to do." Toriel guided patting a paw to her chest.

My brows pinched together as I placed a hand over where my soul glowed. Closing my eyes I stayed quiet trying to listen to it like Toriel had said. All I heard was a great lot of nothing. That strange voice didn't even say anything either…

Breathing out through my nose I scrunched my face up in concentration. _Please little soul, help me out here_. In response I felt my soul pulse slightly and opened my eyes to see it glowing brighter. In front of me four rectangles formed.

Words appeared in each rectangle from left to right they read. 'Fight' with a little sword beside it. 'Act' with a little volume symbol next to it. 'Item' with a little bag beside it. Finally the last button said 'Mercy' with a little X next to it.

"What are these?" I gaped.

Toriel looked very pleased with me so far.

"These are the options your soul has presented you with. Human souls are more powerful than monster souls. It presents you with options physically. You can use any of these actions and your soul will lead you through it. I suggest sticking with the 'Act' and 'Mercy' buttons." Toriel advised.

She seemed to be eyeing the 'Fight' button nervously. I wasn't sure about that button. Why had my soul presented me with that option? It was clear I wasn't a fighter. I would never, could never hurt a living thing on purpose. So why?

 _ **Hehehe**_ ~

Dark laughter echoed in the back of my mind sending a shiver down my spine.

"Come now child, try using the Act button." Toriel encouraged from the sidelines.

I shook myself nodding once before putting my hand on the Act button. The button lit up orange then showed two more options 'Check' or 'Talk'.

Seeing these options displayed Toriel spoke up again.

"The 'Check' button is natural for all humans. It allows you to analyse your opponent. Your soul will tell you the defense and attack power of your opponent. The attack number of a monster dictates how many HP you'll lose if a magical attack hits you, while the defense indicates how much damage a monster might take from an attack." Toriel shifted uncomfortably.

She didn't mention me while explaining the defense points I noticed.

"Using this choice is helpful if you're facing an unfamiliar opponent but for now why don't you try the 'Talk' option." Toriel urged.

I nodded again pressing down on the 'Talk' option to my right.

"Um hi… It's nice to meet you?" I greeted unsurely.

Of course the dummy didn't respond at all to me. It didn't seem much for conversation.

"Wonderful, my child! Now try using the 'Mercy' button." Toriel clasped her hands together proudly.

I smiled lightly; well at least Toriel seemed happy with my attempt anyway. The four main buttons appear in front of me again and this time I reached for the far right button labelled 'Mercy'.

Pressing on it two more options showed 'Spare' or 'Flee'. The spare option was glowing yellow I saw. I looked at Toriel with an eyebrow raised in question.

"Oh good it's ready to be spared. You'll know when a monster wants to stop fighting as its name will turn yellow. This is when using the 'Spare' button will discontinue the Fight." Toriel concluded.

I looked up from my buttons seeing the name 'Dummy' was indeed glowing yellow before pressing the yellow 'Spare' button. Colour leaked back into the room as the Fight was finally concluded, my soul's glow dying down.

"Ah, very good! You are very good." Toriel applauded me.

The sound of her clapping was muffled due to her paws being covered in soft fur but I appreciated it none the less. I gave a sheepish smile mock bowing toward the goat woman.

"Thanks! You've been a great audience." I spoke twirling my hand theatrically.

Toriel laughed at my antics which made me smile. I was getting used to being around the kindly goat woman and steadily growing more comfortable with her. She really did remind me so much of her. Even her laugh sounded like hers.

 _Mum…_

I gave a sigh forcing a smile onto my face as Toriel beckoned me forward.

"I hope you enjoyed my tu-Toriel." She grinned at me.

I couldn't help but snort at how terrible the joke was.

"Haha that was a good one wasn't it?" Toriel regarded me with a warm look as if she'd known me for her whole life.

I nodded at her enthusiastically as she ruffled my hair. I felt a tug of familiarity in my chest and knew I felt the same thing before. I knew Toriel somehow. That was why I grew to trust her so easily. I couldn't quite pinpoint the feeling but, it was like… meeting an old friend for the first time.

* * *

okay so how was that?

it was a little hard to write because the balance is a bit unsure

Frisk is frightened of the monsters she has found but at the same time her soul tells her not to be afraid

at this point Frisk has been through many timelines and reset without knowing it, many many times

she doesn't consciously remember previous timelines but, her soul gives her feelings as it remember

hence how she knows who is more worthy of trust and feels nostalgic in certain situations

but we'll get more into that in the next few chapters where chara speaks more directly to frisk

for now it's answering review time!

YAY!

usually I don't do things like this but I figured since it's a new story and I haven't gotten heaps of reviews it could be fun

To ALoyalReader

haha I didn't think it was THAT good but I'm glad you liked it anyway. Plus I'm glad to contribute to the Undertale community as I love the game lots and lots! I will stay determined! And I also hope our intuitions about my story are correct ;)

To ChuckNorris'ssister

HERE YA GO! Are you happy now? :D

To Brilliant

Well I'll say this it was a better intro than some of my previous stories have had *cough* Something Special *cough* *cough*. Again I still think it could have been better but it is an intro and I was finding my feet, still am. *blushes* haha I can only hope it will become a masterpiece like you hope. Gotta make Ink!Sans proud right :P

To Trefl

I'm glad you find it interesting as that's how I aimed to make it and I hope your curiosity will be satiated as we move along. That or I'll just make you more curious with all the crazy stuff I write haha ^w^

Thanks again for all the lovely reviews

As usual if you have any questions, suggestions or just wanna talk send in a review or PM cause I'm always happy to chat.

until next time

 **LEAF OUT!**


	3. Never Alone

Hi there reader LeafeonLover here

and I'm back with another of SoulTale

So it's been a while since I updated my new fic but then again what else is new

unless you are actually new to my stories

and if that is the case then I'm sorry to tell you this

...

I'm a slow updater

Anyway~!

So in this chapter we get to meet one of my favourite side characters Napstablook and see some more monster fights

Blooky needs more love

And we get to see, or rather hear a bit more from chara

She (yes in my story Chara will also be portrayed as female just so you know) is pretty fun to write

I don't know how many of you have seen Btooom! But Kosuke Kira has the basic personality I kinda think Chara (or at least my version of Chara) has (although it has been a while since I watched Btooom! but it was a darn good anime)

anyways!

 _ **This** _ is chara talking just to remind you

Thank you to all the people who favourited, followed or reviews the story because all those things mean a lot to me so please continue to do so.

now without further ado

ENJOY!

* * *

Chapter 2

Never Alone

The next chamber we came to was very long, with parts of the wall completely covered in ivy and a lighter purple coloured path on the floor. Toriel padded off down to the right side of the room and I followed after her.

I was easily able to keep up with the monster woman's pace despite how much bigger than me she was. I suspected she was walking slower than usual to accommodate for the difference though. We entered a corridor that wound back and forth.

A metal sign hung on the wall in the corner read 'The western room is the eastern room's blueprint'. I wasn't sure exactly what that meant. That part of the room had been empty after all. Shrugging my shoulders I continued on with Toriel, the corridor eventually emerging into another section of the chamber.

This part of the room was in the centre of a large pool of water. There was a path across the water but it was completely covered in deadly looking spikes. They glinted at me in the light of Toriel's fire magic looking very sharp not to mention dangerous.

"This is the puzzle, but…" Toriel trailed looking apprehensively at the spikes then back at me.

Honestly I was considering swimming across through the water rather than walking over that spike bridge.

"Here, take my hand for a moment." Toriel spoke offering me her large paw.

I put my hand on the soft paw without debate, enjoying the feel of Toriel's silky fur against my skin as she held onto me. Holding tightly to my hand Toriel took slow steps toward the spiked bridge. I was a little concerned by this. As soon as she stepped out onto it the spikes wouldn't they impale themselves through her paws?

However Toriel did live in the ruins and she obviously knew this puzzle. She must know the solution to have come through this way in the first place. I trusted Toriel and followed closely behind her as she drew her paw up and placed it atop a spike.

Surprisingly the spike sunk into the ground as Toriel stepped on it along with three others with it on that tile. Toriel continued doing this pressing down the spikes and holding them down for me as I took large steps after her to keep up.

After about a minute of winding through the spikes, we came out safely on the other side of the bridge and without any holes in our feet too.

"This puzzle seems a little too dangerous for now." Toriel let go of my hand slowly before folding her paws in front of herself.

She turned and went into the next room hurriedly. I curiously bent over by the spikes on the bridge wondering how we had gotten across so easily. Pressing my hand toward the spikes we just crossed I found myself touching something cool and flat.

Leaning down further toward the ground I noticed the light in the room reflecting off something clear. It seemed that there was some kind of clear glass plate placed over some of the spike tiles protecting our feet from the spikes.

Getting back to my feet I nodded in understanding before going into the next room. Toriel was waiting for me, her head hanging a bit lower than it usually did. She made an effort to brighten her expression when I looked at her curiously.

"You have done excellently thus far, my child. However… I have a difficult request to ask of you." Toriel's glanced away from me a frown emerging on her furry muzzle.

It seemed as though it was something hard for her to ask. I decided it may be best to try and make her more comfortable in asking. After all Toriel had helped me so much so far.

"I'll do anything you ask of me, Toriel." I replied waiting patiently for Toriel to voice her request.

Toriel eyes widened slightly before she grimaced lightly then swiftly covering it up. I began to wonder if I'd said something wrong.

"Very well… I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this." Toriel murmured turning her back to me.

Picking up her flowing purple dress slightly Toriel ran off swiftly down the hall without much more of an explanation.

"Toriel?!" I called after her surprised by her sudden departure.

She hadn't left my side since we met, so why now? My heart was sinking down into my stomach causing a horrible feeling to arise. I shook my head and ran after Toriel. However her long strides had already carried her far away. Even while running to catch up, I lost sight of her.

I ran to the end of the chamber thinking Toriel had already gone into the next room. I saw a singular stone pillar at the end of the room that had a bit of purple fabric peeking out from the side. I slowed to a walk going over to the pillar and leaning over to look behind it.

Toriel had herself pressed up against the pillar her eyes closed and a pained look on her face.

"Toriel?" I questioned clueless as to what she was doing.

The goat woman blinked her eyes open to give me a fanged smile.

"Greetings, my child. Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me." Toriel explained stepping out from behind the stone structure.

A frown tugged at the end of my lips at Toriel's words. I did trust Toriel but, I had actually thought she'd left me for a second there. It wouldn't be the first time some-one left me…

"Why?" I tilted my head at Toriel curiously.

It wasn't like her to run off like that suddenly. She never went that far ahead of me the whole time we'd been walking together.

"T-there was an important reason for this exercise! To test your independence." Toriel exclaimed at my questioning.

I raised an eyebrow a little at Toriel. I hardly thought walking to the end of the chamber by myself showed a high level of independence. I _had_ run after her frantically, after all.

"I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while… Please remain here. It's dangerous to explore by yourself." Toriel told me seriously.

I felt that sinking feeling return as I pressed my lips together for my expression to remain neutral. Despite my attempt to not look disappointed or sad Toriel seemed to sense my feelings. She put a paw to her chin shortly before her eyes widened and shone with an idea.

She smiled putting a paw into her sleeve "I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone. If you have a need for anything, just call."

From the sleeve of her dress Toriel produced a black cell phone with a little heart shaped keychain. I wondered how many things Toriel kept in her sleeve. She reminded me vaguely of a magician producing things from nowhere like that.

Toriel handed me the device which I stared at curiously. It was a flip phone, a pretty old version of the phones we had on the surface currently. It was no iPhone but still, I'd never had a cell phone of my own.

"Thank you." I held the phone to my chest appreciatively.

Toriel smiled down at me and I found a smile coming to my own face also. I hadn't known Toriel very long but she had been kind and gave me something I had wanted since I was ten.

Everyone in my class that wasn't from the orphanage had a cell phone it seemed. I had longed to have one of my own. Of course, I didn't have anyone to call so it would be pointless. But now I had a phone and someone to call. It… made me happy.

"Be good, my child." Toriel put a paw on my head and rubbed my hair.

I found myself leaning into the affectionate touch she produced. It had been a long time since someone had done this to me. It reminded me a lot of her. Toriel gave a sigh moving her paw away as she turned to leave.

"Come back soon, Toriel." I requested quietly.

Toriel nodded waving at me as she disappeared through the doorway of the ruins. I was alone. It didn't take long. Soon the happiness I had felt faded into loneliness. I walked up and down the room a few times, playing with the features on the phone Toriel had given me.

It had a few nifty things. You could call people –obviously- but it also had a storage feature. At first I thought this was for data storage, like numbers, games or other things. But this turned out to be a magical storage system. The phone would spit out a green cube when this feature was used.

When you closed the Items feature the box would shrink and be reabsorbed into the phone. I didn't put anything in it just yet. I wasn't exactly sure how it worked. Come to think of it how did this phone even work? I doubted you could get reception from surface cell towers down here.

Did the monsters have their own cell towers here? Did the phone even run on electricity? Due to the presence of that strange storage box I wagered it was run on some form of magic. I wished Toriel was here so I could ask her about it.

I gave a sigh shuffling over to the stone pillar to lean against it. After a moment I got tired of standing and slid down to sit on the floor. It seemed like Toriel had been gone for a long time. When in reality it probably hadn't been that long.

I pressed my back against the pillar drawing my legs up to my chest and closing my eyes. It was quiet. There was no sound at all. In the silence I thought back on things I hadn't had much time to dwell on until now. I had climbed mount Ebott and fallen down inside it.

As it turned out my mother's stories seemed to be at least somewhat true so far. Monsters did exist and they did live in mount Ebott. For some reason I didn't feel surprised by this. It felt as though I had known this already. That was strange wasn't it?

Any normal person who had fallen down here would probably be freaking out wouldn't they? Monster? Real? Preposterous! It must be a dream, or a hallucination. But I knew it wasn't. My heart told me this, and there was the matter of that voice saying something similar…

I shook my head deciding not to dwell on that. What else had my mother told me? She had said the monsters were trapped down here by a magic spell. Was that true? Or were they just hiding because humans were cruel and wouldn't understand them?

Hate them even, I wasn't sure. I gave a sigh. The only sound was my breathing in the room. Usually I liked the quiet, but this quiet was suffocating almost. There was no wind, no sky and no sunlight. I found myself missing the surface already.

I wanted to go back up there, back into the sun. I was homesick. There was still hope though. These ruins seemed pretty large and there were even more of them past the doorway. Somewhere down here, there has to be an exit. Toriel lives here so she must know where it is.

I'll have to ask her when she comes back. I'm sure she'll tell me where to go.

 _ **Hehehehe no she won't!**_

My eyes shot open, breath hitching as I froze where I sat. There it was again, that voice. Laughing at me and whispering things. Slowly I stood to my feet but didn't move from my spot near the pillar. My eyes scanned the entire room but I didn't see anyone.

"W-who's there?" I called quietly into the empty room.

Not even the air seemed to move. There was no sign of life. Yet I knew there was someone here with me. I could feel them like a shadow hanging over me. That feeling scared me.

 _ **Are you talking to little old me?**_ Came the reply.

It was the soft voice of a child but had some dark undertone to it. This voice felt familiar, extremely so.

"Y-yeah? But what are you exactly? Where are you?" I questioned my eyes shifting around the room quickly.

It felt as though it were close to me but somewhere I couldn't reach at the same time. I really was beginning to think I'd gone mad.

 _ **Wondering if you've gone crazy now? Well don't worry, you haven't. Not yet anyway! Hehehe~**_

The voice that giggled sounded like a young girl's and was full of mirth.

 _ **And to answer your question I'm a spirit. A soulless consciousness that has taken refuge inside you.**_

I paused at these words putting a hand to my chest and feeling for my soul. I could picture in my mind a red light that had a figure standing inside it. The silhouette of a girl grinned at me.

 _ **But if it makes it easier for you, you can call me… Chara.**_

If I had thought this voice was familiar before, now that I knew her name my mind was reeling. I knew her. But no matter how much I thought this I couldn't place where from.

"Well then Chara, what do you know about Toriel?" I swallowed nervously.

This was strange. But I guessed if monsters could exist, then why not spirits who use you as a host as well.

 _ **Hahaha what do I know? I know**_ _ **everything**_ _ **. When you've been around as long as I have, you get to know a lot of things.**_

Chara laughed as if there were some kind of inside joke I wasn't in on.

"So are you and her friends, were friends?" I questioned.

Chara seemed to take a long pause before she ground out.

 _ **I wouldn't be friends with a monster in a million years.**_

I felt as though Chara was now smiling and tilting her head childishly.

 _ **Because ya' know, as a consciousness with no physical presence, my existence is only known to you. No-one else can hear, feel or see me right now.**_ _**So it's probably best you keep our little chats to yourself. Even down here, contacting spirits is really strange. Okay?**_

"O-okay." I stammered back.

I wasn't sure who I would tell anyway. Toriel was the only one I knew down here but I didn't feel as though telling her would be a good idea.

"If you um… know the underground so well, Chara. Can you tell me if there is an exit?" I questioned slowly.

It seemed Chara was prone to mood swings. I didn't want to upset a spirit who was hiding in my body. That didn't seem as though it would be a good idea.

 _ **There sure is!**_ Chara's voice chirped in my head.

It seemed as though she was fine and dandy at the moment though.

 _ **But it's quite a journey from here. You should leave the ruins as fast as possible.**_

I nodded in understanding "Toriel must know where the exit is. I'll ask her to show me the way too."

I'd rather go there with Toriel then by myself. She had said the ruins were dangerous.

 _ **Tch**_. Chara sounded as though she were gritting her teeth.

I got the sense that even though I couldn't see Chara well she'd be frowning at me disapprovingly.

 _ **You're so trusting. How naïve. You should know that… it doesn't matter who it is, a monster, a human,**_ _ **they're all liars**_ _ **.**_

My eyebrows tweak slightly in concern at the tone of hatred Chara had taken. It took a moment for me to hear her voice again, but by that time it was in the sweet voice of a child once again.

 _ **But do as you see fit. Not like I'd care if you**_ _ **die**_ _ **. Just know that I'm here…**_ _ **I**_ _ **can help you, if you want me to. Hehe~**_

My fingers twitched slightly in discomfort. Why did it feel like, if I accepted Chara's help then it'd be like making a deal with the devil?

 _ **Let me use your body and I can guarantee you, you'll see the sky again.**_

I felt a sensation like arms encircling my body as a faint hand was placed over my hand, near my soul.

"Use my body? Like control me?" I asked unsurely my mind was beginning to feel foggy.

 _ **Yeah, I can make sure no-one gets in our way. This time we'll make it.**_

"This time…" my mind was slow and my eyes felt droopy.

What did that mean? This time? Chara talked like this had happened before. My vision seemed to be tunnelling, red washing over my eyes as I felt a hand grasping at the soul in my chest. Something in the back of my mind stirred at the sensation.

 _No_!

Many flashes of different images, faces, people, places. They all went by too quick to make out anything but suddenly my mind felt light again. The hand reaching for my heart seemed to have retreated now.

"Thanks, but I think I can do this myself." I spoke confidently my chest swelling with _determination_.

…

 _ **Suit yourself. I can wait.**_

With that Chara's voice became quiet. I shook my head pushing off the stone pillar and walking toward the doorway at the end of the room. I know Toriel told me to stay here and wait for her but… surely I could handle whatever was out there.

If the puzzles had been anything like the last ones, I'm sure I could do them. Besides, I really had to ask Toriel the way out of this place. The sooner I left, the quicker I could get back home. I'd be sad to leave Toriel but I knew I didn't belong here. I was a human.

I didn't belong in the midst of monsters. With that saddening thought in mind I went through the doorway and into the next room. In this room there was a doorway to my left. There was a little white frog monster standing next to it, with the rest of the room stretching to the south.

I looked at the frog that wiggled slightly where it stood. We both stared at each other before the frog looked away and at the doorway to my left almost longingly. Walking forward I stopped when my pocket buzzed. Reaching into my shorts I took out my vibrating cell phone.

Flipping it open the caller ID read 'Toriel' so I pressed the green button to answer and held the phone to my ear.

"Hello? This is Toriel." I heard the goat woman's kind voice from the speaker.

It hadn't been very long but it was good to hear her voice.

"Hi." I greeted smiling into the phones receiver.

"You have not left the room, have you? There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try and solve them by yourself." She cautioned as if she knew but didn't at the same time.

I felt a bit of sweat run down the side of my head. I didn't want to lie to Toriel so I decided I should probably tell her I'd left the room.

"Um…"

"Be good, alright?" Toriel stated hurriedly before the phone clicked the call ending abruptly.

Hmm, she seemed to be in a rush. I decided I'd continue on anyway. If I came upon a puzzle that I couldn't solve, or that was too dangerous then I could always turn back. I went into the room the little frog was standing outside of first.

Inside there was a single pedestal with a bowl of wrapped candies and channels of water in the sides of the room. A little sign read 'take one' by the bowl. I picked a random piece of candy from the bowl and walked out of the room. The wrapper said it was called monster candy.

I wondered if monster candy tasted any different from human candy. Taking the wrapper off the candy, I found it held a small shiny black ball. At first I thought it was black liquorice but it didn't smell like liquorice did.

Just when I was about to put the lolly in my mouth I noticed the little frog staring at me from the corner of my eye. I turned to look at the frog that rather than staring at me seemed to be looking at the lolly in my hand with great interest. I lowered the lolly from my mouth looking down at it before holding it out to the frog.

"Do you want a lolly?" I asked it.

I was unsure of if the frog could speak, because it was a _frog_ but it was also a monster and monsters could talk. The frog looked at me tilting its head in question as it croaked at me. It didn't look like it understood my question.

So instead I knelt down and offered the lolly to the frog. It seemed happily surprised. It looked between me and the lolly before shooting a long pink tongue out that stuck to the lolly and drew it into its mouth. The frog chewed the lolly while ribbiting at me in what appeared to be appreciation.

I laughed as it hopped happily in place before jumping away to who knows where. I went back into the room and took another lolly for myself. Popping it into my mouth I was met with a strange taste. The candy was hard on the outside but soft in the middle.

It was gooey, slimy and did not have a nice texture _at all_. Immediately I spat out the lolly in disgust. Looking at its remains I thought that candy looked a lot like a snail. Grimacing at the candy I wiped my tongue on the sleeve of my sweater to get the taste out of my mouth.

No wonder that little frog had liked it so much. Continuing on throughout the room it lead into a chamber where the middle of the ground looked unstable. It was sunken slightly and had obvious cracks on its surface. I didn't like the look of that.

I thought about jumping across but I wasn't sure if I could make it that far, being the athletic person I was. Apart from the cracked floor, there were two glassless windows in the room that seemed to go somewhere else.

Climbing through the closest window brought me to a lower level directly below the floor I'd just been on. I walked over to the other window and pulled myself into it then up onto the ground floor. Now I found myself on the other side of the cracks in the ground. I continued on into the next room only for my phone to ring again.

"Hello? This is Toriel. For no reason in particular… which do you prefer? Cinnamon or Butterscotch?" she asked obviously trying hard not to sound suspicious.

I raised my brow lightly at the odd question but shrugged it off.

"Cinnamon." I answered easily.

I hadn't actually had anything with butterscotch in it before. They didn't have many fancy foods back at the orphanage, but I knew what cinnamon tasted like and I liked it.

"Oh I see. Thank you very much!" Toriel chirped, the phone clicked signalling she'd hung up.

I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at it, as if it would tell me what was going on. Shaking my head I closed the phone and pocketed it once again. Looking around the room I'd come into it was mostly empty.

There was a plaque on the northern wall, a row of spikes blocking the exit and a button at the end of a furrow in the ground that had rock at the other end. This puzzle seemed pretty straightforward to me.

As I was about to go read the plaque on the wall my phone buzzed yet again. Toriel was calling again and so soon after the last call.

"Hello, this is Toriel. You do not dislike butterscotch, do you? I know what your preference is, but… Would you turn your nose up if you found it on your plate?" Toriel questioned worriedly.

I couldn't help but wonder why all her calls seemed to be pertaining to food.

"No, of course not." I replied slightly taken aback.

Was she planning on baking something with these ingredients?

"Right, right, I understand. Thank you for being patient, by the way." Toriel thanked happily.

I on the other hand felt bad she still thought I was waiting where she left me. But the call ended once again before I could even begin to tell her. She always seemed to be in a hurry for some reason or another. Going over to the plaque on the wall I read 'Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them.'

I tilted my head at the plaque's odd statement but none the less did what it said. I pushed the rock down the horizontal trench and onto the compressible button. Once the rock rested on the button it clicked. The spikes blocking the exit sunk into the ground with a sound similar to that of a sword being sheathed.

The next room looked to be a lot of trouble. The majority of the room was covered in cracked ground that was so obviously _not_ secure and just waiting to collapse under me. There was one of those vent like windows near the start of the room but from what I could see, there wasn't another one anywhere else.

I wasn't sure how I was supposed to cross the room without falling onto the lower level I presumed was below. There had to be some key to it though. Taking an experimental step toward the cracked ground my foot sunk a little but shakily held.

Maybe if I was fast enough, I could get across without falling. How wrong I was. As soon as I put my full weight onto the fractured ground, it gave out underneath me. I let out a short scream as the earth swallowed me up, only for me to land in a pile of dried red leaves.

I sat up from the leaves shaking myself to get rid of the plant matter stuck to my form. Standing up I stepped out of the leaf pile and onto a leafless path. I recognised these leaves from other parts of the ruin but still no tree to be found. At the moment I was more thankful than curious about their coincidental placement.

However, once again I couldn't help but notice the leaves were arranged in a strange pattern. They were put in rectangular piles that differed in sizes and left a weaving path to a metal plaque. The message asked me not to step on the leaves. I sighed slightly having already fallen into the pile of leaves.

I did my best to push them back into the pile they'd been in leaving the path clear. Still it was strange. Why were the leaves arranged in such a strange way? Where did they even come from? Leaning my head back and closing my eyes I sighed. If I couldn't solve this puzzle it'd be time to turn back.

Opening my eyes I was about to accept defeat when I noticed something odd about the ceiling. It seemed this room did lie directly beneath the one I'd just been on. The floor and the ceiling, they were quite close together. I could nearly touch the upper floor despite how short I was.

Toriel would nearly have to duck to walk around under here. Being so close I was able to notice that above the path devoid of leaves, the ceiling didn't show any evidence of weakness. Everywhere else flaws were evident, especially around the area I'd just made a hole in.

It seemed that the leaves showed a safe path through the erratic ground. What the sign said finally made a bit of sense. I went over the path counting my paces so I'd know where to turn before going back to the window.

I walked over to the ridge in the wall at the start of the chamber feeling slightly accomplished. Climbing onto the ledge I then pulled myself up onto the upper level and through the window space. I stood up going as far as I could east before I was stopped by the eastern wall.

I then walked straight south from that point onto the cracked ground until I hit the wall again. During this first part I tested each step carefully to make sure the ground wouldn't give way. The fall would be much harder without any leaves to cushion it.

It seemed the ground over the leafless path was stable like I'd thought. Taking three steps east turned sharply and walked northward until I hit the upper most wall. I walked east again for a three more steps then south, east again and finally north until I my feet rested on solid ground.

I moved onto the next room with a sigh of relief escaping my lips. The next room looked similar to the one I'd been in before the last chamber. Except this one had three buttons with corresponding rocks and ditches. I assumed it had the same solution as the last compression button room.

I went left to the rock that was closest to the wall on that side. Putting both hands on the short rock I pushed it. Unlike the last small boulder I'd pushed this one didn't want to glide easily along the ground. Digging my heels into the ground I shoved the rock more forcefully finally getting it to budge.

Pushing it forward I noticed a lime coloured substance on the ground in a circle. Putting the tip of my shoe to the light green goo it stuck to it slightly like gum.

"Gross." I whined drawing my foot away.

The substance seemed to quiver suddenly at my words. I took a step back as the flat disk puffed up taking on a jelly like shape. The world flickered into grey as my soul shone in my chest. The monster was named 'Moldsmal' and had a full health bar.

The jelly like monster wiggled at me in a seemingly aggressive manner making loud squelching noises. I realised I must have disturbed this monster's resting place under the rock... and called it gross. Oops.

"S-sorry, didn't mean to bother you." I apologised quickly.

In response the Moldsmal inflated slightly before spitting out some white bubbles from the centre of its top. The spheres floated down in the air slowly before they burst spraying smaller, much faster circles toward me.

I dodged the attack using the gaps between the orbs, as more seeds burst around me. The attack reminded me vaguely of when coral would spawn sending out many tiny seeds into the ocean. After spitting out a few more globes of this attack, the Moldsmal deflated and wiggled at me annoyed but seeming less angry.

Putting a hand to my chest where my soul glowed the action buttons appeared in front of me. Pressing the Act button it lit up orange before showing two options 'check' or 'flirt'. I didn't think the check option would be very helpful at the moment.

Moldsmal appeared to be lime flavoured jelly crossed with mould that was sentient but couldn't talk. I decided the flirt choice would probably be my best bet for now. But how did you even flirt with a jelly creature? It seemed to only be able to communicate by a series of wiggles and squishing noises.

Since I couldn't talk Moldsmal language I resigned to just wiggle my body in an imitation of it. Pressing the flirt button I put my hands on my hips and wiggled them in what I hoped was a slightly suggestive manner.

The Moldsmal's wiggles slowed and it seemed to watch me for a moment before letting out a quiet squelch and wiggling back. It inflated slightly spitting out more spores, but these ones were smaller and didn't burst like the last ones.

It was a lot easier to avoid these than the last attack had been. After I managed to make it through the attack with my HP still fully intact, the Moldsmal shrunk to a smaller size. Its name floating above it had turned yellow so I pressed the Mercy button and spared it.

"I'm really sorry about moving your rock but I need to get through." I told the Moldsmal earnestly moving my hips slowly in a hopefully apologetic manner.

The Moldsmal wiggled lightly in response and then slowly jiggled away leaving a few gold coins behind. I picked up the gold coins and pocketed them. I took this as it having forgiven me. The world returned to colour and I continued with my mission of compressing all the buttons with the boulders.

After the first two I came to the third rock about to push it when a voice snapped suddenly "Whoa there, pardner! Who said you could push me around?"

It surprised me so much I jumped back immediately. It took me a moment to realise that it was actually the rock that was talking to me.

"Sorry! I didn't know. I need to get through here, so… do you think you could move back a little? Please?" I pleaded politely.

The rock didn't move but instead spoke again "Hmm? So you're ASKIN' me to move over? Okay, just for you, pumpkin."

The rock then scooted about a metre back by itself. It still hadn't moved far enough back for it to rest on the button though.

"Um do you think you could move a bit further?" I requested again awkwardly.

I wasn't sure how it could move without any arms or legs but brushed this off.

"Hmm? You want me to move some more? Alrighty, how's this?" The rock said moving to the left.

I was beginning to feel bad for forcing this rock to move around so much but I still had to get through.

"Um, not quite. I really need you to move onto that button there." I pointed to the grey button a metre away.

I couldn't see any eyes on the rock but I assumed it could see anyway.

"Hmm. That was the wrong direction then. Okay, think I got it." The rock grunted finally dragging itself onto the button.

I realised it was probably difficult for the rock to move around like that and bent over in front of it.

"Thank you for moving. I just have to get past those spikes, and then you can sit wherever you want." I explained gratefully.

Standing up again the rock chuckled at me like I'd told it a joke.

"You're a pretty kind human. Most of the other humans that came through here weren't so kind. I think I've had enough moving around for a while." It sighed breathlessly despite having no lungs.

Nodding I went on past the spikes and into the next room. Well it was more of a long corridor than an actual room. There was a wooden table in a jut of the hall with a piece of cheese on it. Directly opposite to the table there was a small mouse hole in the wall.

Looking at the cheese it looked, a bit old. Brushing my hand on the cheese the outside was very hard and it was actually stuck to the table. The mouse would never get the cheese at this rate. Putting my foot on the table to keep it in place I tugged strongly at the cheese.

The top half snapped off leaving a rectangle of cheese stuck on the table. It smelled pretty gross but I wagered the mouse wouldn't care. Leaning over I put the cheese just within the mouse hole. I guessed the mouse -or mouse looking monster- probably wouldn't take it until I left, so I continued on.

The next chamber was split in two by a dividing wall. In the gap between the walls there was a pile of those red leaves with a white blob resting on them. Approaching slowly, I spotted a pair of closed eyes and a mouth on the blob near the curved top.

Looking at the whole shaped it looked like one of those enemy characters from the Pacman game only much larger and white.

"Zzzzzzzzzzz... Zzzzzzz…" the ghost pretend snored then murmuring "Are they gone yet?" under its breath.

I stood there ringing my hands together not sure how to get past without disturbing it. The encounter with the Moldsmal had taught me monsters didn't like having their naps interrupted. Even if this ghost did appear to be faking it until I left.

"Um I'm sorry to interrupt your err, sleep, but do you think you could move a bit?" I asked quietly as civilly as possible.

The ghost didn't respond to my question continuing to make exaggerated snoring sounds. I wasn't sure if the ghost had heard me and went to tap it lightly only for my hand to phase right through its form. Of course being an _actual_ ghost I couldn't _actually_ touch it.

Still the ghost's eyes opened and the world flash grey initiating a fight. This monster was called Napstablook according to the text. The ghost floated up from its position on the ground until it was floating straight in front of me. It had a sad frown on its face and watery looking black and white eyes.

The ghost had such a sad look, as though it would burst into tears at any second. Putting a hand over my soul the action buttons appeared again. Surprisingly I was already used to the flow of battle even though I'd only been in three so far.

Did the Dummy even count? Err nevermind. Shaking my head I pressed the Act button seeing four options 'check', 'flirt', 'threat' and 'cheer' I read. Flirting had worked on the Moldsmal but I didn't feel as though that would work on Napstablook.

I didn't want to threaten it either, that would be mean. That left me with only one option, cheer. Pressing that button I gave Napstablook a patient encouraging smile.

"Heh…" Napstablook gave a single humourlessness laugh.

Napstablook blinked its eyes some wavy white lines coming out of them and flying toward me. I ran around in a circle and the lines seemed to follow me until I was cornered and struck by the magic. I winced in pain as my HP dropped by three points.

At least the attack wasn't very powerful I thought clutching my chest. It seemed as though Napstablook wasn't putting much effort into its attacks. Maybe, it didn't want to fight. Still my cheering seemed to have at least a small positive effect, so I decided to try it again.

"Hey Napstablook, don't look so down. You should really… lift your _spirits_." I joked good-naturedly.

Napstablook's demeanour didn't change but it laughed a little more. I took this as a sign I was getting somewhere. Napstablook floated high above me white liquid collecting under its eyes until fat tears were raining down above me.

I craned my head upward dodging the drops as they splashed into the ground and disappeared. Napstablook didn't do this for very long before coming back to float just off the ground. It looked very unhappy with itself.

Pressing the Act button and cheer options once again I told Napstablook "Hey you don't have to cry. I won't hurt you or anything, I promise. You- you're really cool!"

Napstablook cast its eyes away solemnly but somehow its mood seemed a little better.

"Let me try…" Napstablook whispered.

Once again the ghost's eyes began to water as it cried huge tears. Oddly the gravity of these tears seemed to be reversed. They floated upward melding together and slowly forming a white top hat on Napstablook's head.

"I call it "dapper blook". Do you like it…" Napstablook stated monotonously.

I smiled at Napstablook wearing the cute top hat pressing Act then cheer again.

"It looks great on you." I told the sad ghost honestly.

Napstablook's ghostly lips pressed together before they turned upward in a faint smile. The world suddenly returned to colour the fight ending without me having to spare the ghost.

"I usually come to the ruins because there's nobody around… but today I met somebody nice… oh I'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way." Napstablook immediately phased through the floor disappearing.

I didn't even get the chance to say anything else to the miserable looking ghost.

"Thanks…" I spoke aloud anyway hoping Napstablook might hear me.

I hoped we would meet again because Napstablook was actually very sweet I thought. Besides seeing someone as sad as that ghost was pulled at my heart strings. It seemed like Napstablook just really needed a friend, and I was happy to be that person.

After all, I knew what it was like to be lonely and depressed too. I had always been alone since my mother died.

 _ **Hehehe~**_

 _ **But now… you've got me.**_

* * *

 **YAY!**

there you go

I know you all know how the puzzles go but I'm not one to leave anything out

if anything I just end up going into way more depth than is necessary haha...

now for review answering time!

 **The Rude Girl** asked if Flowey is able to remember the other timelines even though Frisk doesn't (not consciously anyway)?

I'm glad you find it interesting that's my goal ;) Weeeeeeeell~ I try to make this story as close to the game as possible while taking my usual creative liberties, and in the game Flowey is able to remember certain events and other timelines however, if a True Reset is done all of Flowey's memories are erased along with everyone else's (he even says so himself). Now in this story while Frisk is the cause of the resets, but is not particularly in _control_ of it, she sort of just DOES it. So it is definitely safe to say Flowey remembers some things but not others, you'll get to see more on that a bit later.

 **kyuuryuu13** asked when Frisk would ketchup (nice) with the other souls?

And I'm sooooo glad you asked that because I was gonna tell you anyway. Next chapter Frisk will be meeting our first human lost soul. And, if you've played the game (why else would you be here) then you'll probably know who it is (*cough* equitable items *cough*). I'm glad you thought it was punny. Many undertale characters remind me of my family which is probably part of the reason I the love the punny humor so much.

 **FioFionavar** didn't really ask a question but I'll answer the review anyway!

You should review more often because it gives me DETERMINATION whenever I get a review and your english is fine, don't let that stop you! Thank you so much for the compliments and the warm fuzzy feelings they give me. Good writing, long chapters and fast... updates... er yeah, that's me ahaha ha ha...

said please next please

HERE YA GO MY LOVELY READER!

and finally

 **Gues** t (Your talking to mwah! oh right the author, yep! that's me)

haha very good.

hey guest?

What does a skeleton order at a restaurant?

... Guest: "what?"

Spare ribs!

*drum sound effects* ba dum tsss!

yeah I know it was bad, yours was better haha. I'm going to have to up my game when Sans finally joins the story. Or ya know I could just ask ewe *troll face* haha I'm so terrible it's funny, of Toriel I'll soon be on your level, not height wise because nobody is that gosh darn tall. anyway I'm getting carried away aren't I. Look what you've done to me guest! I'm addicted to puns, well I already was since before that soooo *shrugs*

anyway!

until next time

If you have any questions, suggestions or just wanna talk send in a review or PM me cause I'm always happy to chat.

Leaf out!

 **REVIEW!**


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